By IANS,
New Delhi: Three Indian women table tennis players – Mouma Das, Poulomi Ghatak, Shamini Kumaresan – Sunday decided to miss the grand opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games as they wanted adequate rest ahead of their matches Oct 4.
Tennis player Sania Mirza also chose to skip the ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium as she too has matches Oct 4.
TT Coach Bhawani Mukherjee said the players needed proper rest before the group games against Sri Lanka and New Zealand Monday.
“The players needed adequate rest before their two opening matches tomorrow (Monday). The matches are scheduled in the morning and the evening. Attending the opening ceremony Sunday evening would have meant the players coming back (to the Games Village) late in the night. Hence, we allowed them to miss the showcase event,” Mukherjee told IANS.
However, the men’s team, which will start their Games campaign with a match against island nation Vanuatu Monday evening, attended the opening ceremony.
“The participated in the ceremony as they have an evening match and we thought they will get ample time to rest,” said Mukherjee.
The table tennis event take place at the Yamuna Sports Complex.